TV Review: The Deuce

Stuart Chandler

It’s filthy, frequently funny and has a fantastically funky soundtrack - what am I talking about? Why, The Deuce, of course, Sky Atlantic’s grubby new drama which roots around the highways and byways of the New York prostitute and porn business back in the early 70s.

But don’t run away in disgust - it’s also brilliantly acted and produced - you’ll marvel that New York City has been transported back to the urban decay of that unlovely decade; you’ll believe that James Franco has a twin acting alongside him and that Maggie Gyllenhaall is a working girl trying to make ends meet.

That’s check those names again - that’s James Franco and Maggie Gyllenhaall - two big time movie stars on your telly - that’s how good The Deuce is.

From the pen of David Simon (who gave us The Wire) The Deuce explores the fortunes of Franco’s Vince as he goes into business with the Mob just as the porn industry was going legitimate in the States. Along the way we meet the various lowlifes who populate his world, including gambling degenerate twin brother Frankie and Gyllenhaall’s Candy, who turns to the the nascent porn industry to get away from working the streets .

The Deuce is an all-consuming strut through an urban wasteland but, Goddamn, it’s funky!